DIY Piggy Banks

DIY Piggy Banks

Teaching our kids about the value of money and saving is something that I really want to be better at. Sometimes I’ll catch Henry making totally age appropriate, but financially irresponsible comments like, “I like new cars. Why can’t we get a cool new car?” Or, he’ll do things like want to spend all of the money Grandma gave him for his birthday on one cheap toy that will probably be broken in a few days. I cringe, and then try to explain to him why of course it’s nice to have brand new things, but if we don’t need it, then it’s a waste of money when there are other things we need or may need later on. Both needs vs. wants and spending vs. saving is something we talk about a lot with him, as he’s old enough now to understand the value of money and some financial realities.

Over the next few months, I’ll be partnering with State Farm on a series of posts around planning and saving for college. I’m really excited to learn more about my options and how they can help our children to pay for college when we meet with State Farm agent in a couple days. I’ll be sharing more details about the process and some thoughts along the way about teaching our children the value of money and saving for college.

To get things started, I thought it might be fun to create some DIY banks we can use as a family to encourage saving and the value of small amounts adding up. Keep reading to see more about my thoughts behind the banks and how to make them yourself…

There was a money-saving tip I heard once that had a good suggestion for when you have the urge to buy something you don’t really need (like an ice cream cone or a new pair of shoes). Instead of giving into your impulse, put that $5 or $100 into a savings account to use toward something you really will need in the future (like college tuition). We’re going to try using these banks in a similar way as a family. Next time Henry suggests we order pizza instead of eating leftovers in the fridge, we can put that $40 we would have spent into one of these SAVE or COLLEGE piggy banks to use towards saving for something bigger like a new car, or college. Every once in a while we can put money in the SPEND bank as well to save towards something fun to do as a family, like a day down at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

Step 1: Using the letter stickers, write SPEND, SAVE, and COLLEGE on the jars. Make sure they’re stuck on really well.

Step 2: Spray paint the jars and lids with the spray paint. You could also choose a different paint for the lid if you’d like but we wanted to leave them white so the pig would be the star in this case (since it’s a piggy bank!).

Step 3: Let dry completely, you may need to apply another coat. Then peel off the stickers

Step 4: Hot glue the pigs to the top of your slotted jars.

Explain the challenge to your family and watch the jars slowly get filled up!

Thanks to State Farm for sponsoring this post. For more information on the best financial services for your family, please visit or call a State Farm agent.